Capping head



April 24, 1934.l G. .1. HUNTLEY Er A1. 1,955,218

CAPPING HEAD Filed July 12, 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet l April Z4, 1'934. G,HUNTLEY ET AL 1,956,218

CAPPING HEAD Filed July 12, 1932 7 Sheets-SheerI 2 April 24, 1934, G. J.HUNTLEY Er AL 1,956,218

CAPPING HEAD gmc/who@ April 24, 1934. G. J, HUNTLEY ET AL 1,956,218

CAPPING HEAD Filed July l2., 1932 7 Sheets-SheetI 4 April 24, 1934. G.J. HUNTLEY E1' AL 1,955,218

' CAPPING HEAD A Filed July 12, 1932 7 sheets-sheet 5 gmc/nto@ April 24,1934. G. .1. HUNTLEY Er A1. l,956,218

CAPPING HEAD Filed-July l2, 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Apris 24, 1934.

G. J.l HUNTLEY ET AL CAPPING HEAD Filed Julyl2, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet '74me/nto@ 520g@ fa/zi@ Ha/"fg .27. Pala y Patented Apr. 24, 1934 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CAPPING HEAD George J. Huntley, Baltimore, andHarry A. Rau, Catonsville, Md., assgnors to Crown Cork & Seal Company,Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York The present inventionrelates to an improvement in capping heads and, more particularly,comprises a means for feeding closure or cap blanks to the cappingmechanism of the capping head.

Our invention is particularly designed for use in a capping head of thetype disclosed in the application filed by George W. Booth on July 27,1931, Serial No. 553,462, involving a capping head for formingsubstantially flat discs or closure blanks in situ, i. e., upon thecontainer, into skirted caps or closures.

The most satisfactory manner of operating the cap or closure feedingmechanism of the capping 315 head of a capping machine is to have thefeeding mechanism actuated in accordance with the movements of thecapping head during the capping operation, the usual arrangement beingto have the feeding mechanism operatively connected to the capping headin such a manner that the feeding mechanism will reciprocatehorizontally when the capping head. reciprocates vertically, the feedingmechanism moving beneath a vertically arranged stack of cap blanks toremove the lowermost blank from the stack on each operation. In previousmechanisms, the stack of discs has rested directly upon the feedingmechanism, thereby imposing a considerable amount of friction upon thismechanism and tending to hinder its operation. This has naturallyretarded the operation of the entire capping head and has likewisecaused some diiculty in properly presenting the cap blanks to thecapping mechanism.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a feedingmechanism for a capping head so constructed that its movements will beaccurately synchronized with the operation of the capping head and whichis so arranged that the weight of the stack of blank caps will not besupported upon the feeding mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a capping head which is soconstructed that the feeding mechanism will receive but a single capblank during each cycle of its movements with respect tothe stack of capblanks.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a capping machine provided with acapping head of our invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of our capping head;

Figure 3 is a plan view of our capping head;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section similar to Figure 4 showing the parts inanother position;

Figure 6 is an end elevation partly in vertical section of the cappinghead;

Figure 7 is a horizontal section, with parts of 60 the mechanism brokenaway, taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 2, and showing the disc supportingdevices preferably used in this capping head;

Figure 8 is a view generally similar to Figure 7 showing a modified formof disc supporting devices;

Figure 9 is a vertical section generally similar to Figure 4 but showinga modified form of our capping head;

Figure 10 is an end view partly in vertical sec- 7o tion taken on theline 10-10 of Figure 9; and

Figure 1l is a central vertical section through the capping head showingthe head equipped for operation upon cap blanks which are not entirelyflat.

The numeral 20 designates a capping machine with which a capping head 21constructed in accordance with our invention may be used. The machine 20comprises a base and vertical standard 22 which supports an electricmotor 23 at its 30 upper end. When the machine is operating, the motor23 runs continuously, and, through reducing gearing 24, drives a pulley25. Pulley 25 is connected for operation with a pulley 26 on the maindrive shaft 27 of the machine, by means of 35 a belt 28. A crank, notshown, is provided on the shaft 27 Within the standard 22 and causes aslide member 29 to reciprocate vertically in slideways on the front faceof the standard 22.

A block 30 is carried by the slide member 29 and 90 may be verticallyadjusted with respect to the member 29 by means of a hand wheel 31 sothat the machine may operate upon receptacles of various sizes. Theshaft 27 is equipped with a clutch 32 which, in engaging position,permits the 95 slide member 29 and block 30 to vertically reciprocate.Clutch 32 may be controlled by a foot lever'33 pivoted on the standard22 and con-l nected to a clutch operating member 34 by a link 35. A coilspring 36 normally holds the foot 100 lever in such position that theclutch will be disengaged. The machine may, of course, be operativelyconnected to a receptacle feeding mechanism which will control theclutch 32 in synchronism with the feeding of the receptacles.

We preferably provide two capping heads 21 on the slide block 30, thetwo heads being supported at either side of the block. As shown inFigures 2 to 7 inclusive, each capping head 21 is mQunted in avertically arranged cylinder or supporting member 50 which is suitablysecured to the block 30. A throat carrier in the form of a cylindricalsleeve 51 is slidably mounted for vertical movement in the cylinder 50,vertically extending diametrically opposite keys 52 being provided onthe throat carrier 51 to engage slideways in the bore of the cylinder 50to guide the vertical movements of the throat carrier 51. The throatcarrier 51 has a vertical bore 53 therein which opens at its lower endinto a circular chamber 54 provided in an enlarged portion 55 on thelower end of the throat carrier 51. The enlarged portion 55 has alateral extension 56 integral therewith and a disc feeding aperture 57is provided in this extension. A disc holding cylinder 58 is alignedwith the aperture 57 and extends upwardly and parallel with sleeve 51from a vertically extending collar 56 which is fixed in alignment withthe aperture 57. A platform 59 is pivoted at 60 to the outer extremityof the lateral extension 56 and a latch 61 pivoted to the inner end ofthe enlarged portion 55 of the throat carrier engages a shoulder 62 onthe platform 59 to hold the latter in its normal horizontal position, asshown.

An aperture 63 is provided in the platform 62 beneath the throat chamber54 and a presser foot 64 is supported in the throat chamber immediatelyabove the aperture 63. Presser foot 64 is provided with a lower headedportion 65 and an upper headed portion 66. The upper headed portion 66rests upon a presser foot plate 67 which rests upon a throat sleeve 68.The throat sleeve is in turn supported by a ring 69 encircling thethroat sleeve 68 and which is held in upper position by means of a coilspring 70, the lower portion of which rests upon a plate 71 which issecured to the lower portion of the chamber 54 by means of screws or thelike, not shown.

A socket 72 is provided in the upper head 66 of the presser foot 64 andthe lower rounded portion of a presser foot spindle 73 is seated in thissocket. The spindle 73 is provided with a flanged head 74 which normallyrests upon an annular shoulder 75 provided by a restriction 76 in thebore 53 of the throat carrier. A relatively strong coil spring 77 isseated upon the spindle 73 to normally hold its flanged head 74 incontact with the shoulder 76. Spring 77 is held compressed by a top nutV78 threaded into the upper end of the bore of the throat carrier. Thenut 78 is provided with a central threaded bore 79 and is preferablyprovided with radial slits extending from the bore 79 so that the nutmay be expanded by means of a set screw 80 which is threaded into thebore 79 and has a conical inner end 81 which serves to expand theradially slit portion of the top nut. Top nut 78 is provided with acircumferential flange 82 which bears upon the upper end of the cylinder50. A resilient washer may be provided upon the upper end of thecylinder 50 beneath the flange 82.

The throat 68 is formed of a plurality of segments 84, each segmentbeing provided with outwardly extending shoulders and 86. The shoulders85 are provided on the upper portion of the segment and are slightlygrooved on their outer sides. A relatively stiif split ring 8 7encircles the assembled group of segments 84 and, With a coil spring 88which encircles the segments between the shoulders 85 and 86, serves tohold the segments in the form of a sleeve or throat as shown. The splitring 87 also serves to support the throat upon the ring 69, the upperinner portion of ring 69 being counter-bored to provide a shoulder orridge 89 upon which the split ring 87 rests. As is shown in Figure 4,the lower edge of the throat 68 is normally flush with the lower surfaceof the presser foot 64, the inner lower edge 90 of the throat 68 beingslightly spaced from the periphery of the lower headed portion 65 of thepresser foot. It will be noted that the upper shoulder 85 of each of thesegments 84 isslightly beveled downwardly and outwardly so that thesegments 84 have substantially a single point of contact 91 with thepresser foot plate 67, enabling the segments to be swung outwardly uponthis point as a pivot.

The cap discs are fed into position for the capping operation by meansof a pusher nger 101 and are supported beneath the presser foot 64 uponthe upper surface of a collar 102 which is seated in the bore 63 ofplatform 59. It will be noted that a space is provided beneath the lowerend f the throat 68 and the upper surface of the supporting ring 102 topermit a cap disc 100 to be positioned between the two. This spaceshould be suicient to accommodate cap blanks which are not entirelyflat.

The pusher finger 101 moves in a slot 103 formed centrally of the upperwall 104 of the platform 59, and is secured by machine screws or thelike 105 to a pusher finger block 106 movable in a horizontal slideway107 formed in the platform 59. The pusher finger block 106 and pusherfinger`101 move horizontally-between the positions shown in Figure 4 andFigure 5. The mechanism for accomplishing the movements of the pushernger block will be hereinafter described.

The mechanism for feeding the blank discs 100 down into the path of thepusher nger 101 preferably comprises a plurality of oscillating fingerdevices 108 such as are shown in detail in Figure 7. The fingers 108 arepositioned in .kerfs 109 cut in the upper surface of the lateralextension 56 and arranged radially of the disc aperture 57. The uppersides of the kerfs 109 are closed by the lower end of the collar 56.Each of the oscillating finger devices 108 has a downwardly projectingpin 110 thereon which ts in a small vertical bore 111 extendingdownwardly from each of the kerfs 109, the pin 110 serving as an axisfor they oscillating nger device. The outer ends of the oscillatingfingers 108 are slotted at 112k and are engaged by pins 113 carried by aring 114. The ring 114 is mounted for oscillating movement about thecollar 56. Movement of the ring 114 will swing the oscillating fingerdevices 108 and cause them to oscillate on their axes 110. The inner endof each of the oscillating linger devices illustrated in Figure 7 andpreferably used in our device is in the form of a fish-tail andcomprises two lingers 116 and 117 laterally offset with respect to eachother, finger 116 being spaced above finger 117 a distance correspondingto the thickness of the material of which the blank discs used in themachine are formed. Finger 116 is preferably rounded on its uppersurface, as is best shown in Figure 4 and has a flat lower surface,while the upper surface of the lower finger 117 is flat. The lowersurface of linger 117 may be rounded. The oscillation of the ring 114 isadapted to be synchronized with the reciprocation of the pusher finger101 by a lever and latch arrangement hereinafter described so that theblank discs will be fed downwardly to the pusher nger 101 to be moved toa position beneath the presser foot 64 at the proper moment.

The capping head of the present invention-.may be used in cappingmachines or filling and cap-` ping machines of a number of types and ineach instance the operation of the capping head will be substantially asdescribed in the present case. Its operation, when used in connectionwith the machine illustrated in Figure 1 and the arrangement of itsoperating parts when used therewith is as follows: Bottles 118 may befed into position on the worktable 38 of the machine illustrated inFigure 1 either by hand or by means of a mechanical conveyor of sometype. In either event, the bottles must be positioned in substantialalignment with the aperture 63 of the platform 59. Centralizing guides119 are positioned in vertically extendingcircumferentially spaced slots120 in the ring 102 to properly center the mouth of the bottle withrespect to the presser foot 64. 'I'he guides 119 are held in position bya coil spring 121 in ring form which extends about the collar 102 in agroove 122 and through apertures'123 in each of the guides 119. Thelower ends 124 of the guides 119 are downwardly beveled within the slots120 as shown and are pressed inwardly by means of a second coil spring125 which likewise encircles the rear surface of the collar 102.Rotation of the main shaft 27 of the machine 20 will cause the cappinghead 21 to move downwardly, it being understood that Y the actuation ofthe shaft 28 is timed with the operation of the mechanical bottlefeeding mechanism, if such mechanism is used, or that the: shaft 28 willbe caused to move the head 21 downwardly by manualactuation of the footlever 33. The cylinder 50 will move downwardly, carrying the throatcarrier 51 with it and the aperture 63 in the platform 59 will descendabout the mouth of the bottle. Contact of thevblank capping disc 100 andthe pressure foot 64 with the mouth of the bottle will cause throatcarrier 51 and presser foot 64 to be held stationary while the cylinder50 continues its downward movement until the lower end 126 of thecylinder 50 comes into contact with the spacing ring 127. At this momentthe upstanding arm 128 of a latch 129 pivoted at 129 on the outer wallof the chamber 55 will engage a latch block 130 projecting from theouter wall of the cylinder 50 and a coil spring 131 having one endsecured to the cylinder50 and the other end secured to the upper end ofthe xupstanding arm 128 of the latch will hold the arm in engagementwith the latch block, locking the throat carrier 51 and the cylinder 50in this relation.

The cylinder 50 will continue its downward movement and will therebyforce the throat 68 down about the sides of the mouth of the bottle,While the bottle, will force the presser foot 64 and spindle 73 upwardlyagainst the action of the coil spring 77, capping the bottle in themanner described in the application of George W. Booth heretoforereferred to.

The upward movement of the throat carrier 51 into the cylinder 50 asjust described will, by means of a bell crank lever 132 and latch 133actuate the pusher finger 101 and oscillating fingers 108. The bellcrank levers 132 are pivotally supported at either end of a pin 132acarried in the outer wall of the supporting cylinder 50 and are providedwith relatively long downwardly extending arms 134 and relatively shorthorizontally disposed arms 135. The short arms 135 are provided withrollers 136 at their outer ends which are positioned between verticallyspaced lugs 137 and 138 fixed to the side walls of the disc holdingcylinder 58. The lower ends 139 of the vertical arms 134 are connectedto the pusher block 106 by means of links 140 which are pivotallyconnected to a pin 141 which extends through the pusher block 106 andthrough slots 142 in' the side walls of the platform 59. The latch 133is pivotally supported upon the vertically extending arm 134 of one ofthe bell cranks midway of the length of the latter and rests upon a pin143 which projects from the ring 114. It will be noted that the lowerside of the latch 133 is cut away at 144, the end walls of this cut-awayportion providing stops adapted to contact with the pin 143 duringhorizontal motion of the latch 133. By the above arrangement, when thethroat carrier 51 is forced upwardly in the cylinder 50 by the operationdescribed above, the lugs 137 and 138 on the disc holding cylinder 58will act upon the short horizontal arm 135 of the bell crank 132 toswing the latter upwardly or to the left, (as shown in Figure 2),causing the pusher block 106 to be moved to the outward position shownin Figure 5. During this movement, the right end (Figure 2) of thecut-away portion 144 of the latch 133 will strike the pin 143 and willswing the latter to the left, resulting in a rotary movement of the ring114 and oscillation of the fingers 108 from the position shown in Figure4 to that shown in Figure 5. In Figure 4, the pile of blank discs isshown resting upon the upper fingers 116 but oscillation of the fingersby the movement just described will cause the upper fingers 116 to bemoved back into the kerfs 109 while the lower fingers 117 will be turnedout into the bore of the disc holding aperture, permitting the stack ofdiscs to drop from the upper lingers to the upper sides of the lowerfingers. The movement of the pusher finger 101 to outward position will,of course, permit the disc 100 shown on top of the pusher finger 101 inFigure 4 to drop down in front of the pusher finger as illustrated inFigure 5.

Continued rotation of the drive shaft 28 after the bottler has beencapped will cause the cylinder 50 to be moved upwardly with the slidemember 29 and a horizontal arm 152 on the trip latch 129 (Figure 2) willcome into Contact with the lower end of a trip rod 153 secured to thestandard 22 causing the trip. latch 129 to be disengaged from the latchblock. The position of rod 153 may be vertically adjusted in accordancewith the vertical adjustment of block 30.

When latch 129 is released the throat carrier 51, platform 59, and discholder 58 will, due to their own weight, drop to the position shown inFigure .4. The movement of these parts from the position shown in Figure5 to that shown in Figure 4 will, through the pressure of the lugs 137and 138 on the short arm of the bell crank 132, cause thel bell crank toswing to the right (with respect to Figure 2) and move the pusher finger,block 106 in that direction. The pusher iinger 101 (Fig. 5) Will movethe disc 100 seated on the top surface 104 of the platform 59 to theleft beneath the presser foot 64. The swinging movement of the verticalarms 134 of the bell crank will likewise draw the latch 133 to the right(Fig. 2) and when the movement of the pusher finger block to the rightis almost completed, the left hand end of the cutaway portion 144 on thelatch 133 will strike the pin 143 to change the position of theoscillating finger devices 108. The oscillating finger devices willthereby be turned to move the lowermost fingers 117 into the kerfs 109,thereby dropping the disc 100 which has been resting upon them down uponthe upper surface of the pusher finger 101. The upper fingers 116 willbe simultaneously turned out into the disc holding bore 57 beneath thelowermost disc of the stack of discs within the cylinder 58 tosupportthe stack.

Figure 8 shows a slightly modified form of oscillating finger device tofeed the discs downwardlyV to the pusher finger. In this form, twooscillating fingers 108 are provided in each kerf 109 in the uppersurface of the lateral extension 56. One of the devices 108 is providedwith an upwardly offset finger 116' while the other device is providedwith a downwardly oiset nger 117', the vertical spacing between thefingers being equal to the thickness of the material of which the capsused in the machine are formed. Each of the devices 108 is pivoted on apin 110 and has a slot 112 in its outer end, the slots of all of thedevices 108' being engaged by downwardly projecting pins 113 carried bya ring 114, not shown. The arrangement of the oscillating finger devices108 with respect to the pins 113 is such that rotation of the ring 114in one direction will turn all of the upwardly offset fingers 116 intothe aperture 57 as it swings the downwardly offset ngers 117 out of theaperture and back within the kerfs 109. Reverse rotation of the ring 114will reverse the respective positioning of the ngers 116 and 117.

The construction of the form of our capping head shown in Figures 9 and10 is substantially similar to that described above and it operates inmuch the same manner as does the form illustrated in Figures 2 to 8inclusive, the principal differences between the two forms involving thethroat structure and the construction of the pusher finger block. In theform shown in Figures 9 and 10, the throat 68 is supported upon a singlering 269, ring 269 being provided with a shoulder 289 to supportthe-split ring 287 about the upper portion of the segments 84. Also inthe form shown in Figure 9, no oscillating nger devices are used to feedthe discs downwardly to the pusher nger 101. In this form the stack ofdiscs 100 normally rests upon the upper surface 104 of the platform 59,except as hereinafter described, and pusher finger 101 is provided witha spring actuated nger 201 which removes the lowermost disc 'from thestack upon the movement of the pusher nger to the right. Spring nger 201is pivoted to the pusher finger 101 at 202 and is maintained insubstantially horizontal position by a small leaf spring 203 fixed tothe pusher block 106. If thel stack of discs 100 rested directly uponthe upper surface 'ofthe pusher flnger 101, a substantial degree offriction would exist which would somewhat retard the movement of thepusher finger beneath the stack of discs. In this'form, we thereforeprovide an upwardly projecting pointed element 204 which projectsupwardly from the pusher finger block and thus carries the weight of thestack at a single point to reduce the friction. The pointed element 204is held in upward position by a spring 205 mounted in the pusher block106 and the vertical movement of the pointed element 204 is limited by apin 206 mounted in the pusher block 106 and extending through a slot inthe element 204. In making its outward movement, the pusher block 106 ispositively actuated, since this movement occurs by reason of thepressure eX- erted by the crank arm of the shaft 27 whichforces thethroat sleeve 51 upwardly in the supporting cylinder 50. However, theinward movement of the pusher block is'only due to gravity or because ofthe weigh-t of the sleeve 51 which causes it. to drop with respect tothe supporting sleeve 50 when the latch 129 is released. In order toassist in this movement and to further counteract the friction whichwould otherwise exist in this form of our device on the inward movementof the pusher block, we provide a coil spring 207 in the platform 59,the inner end of the coil spring 207 bearing against the rear surface ofthe pusher block 106 and its outer end being mounted in a tube 208 whichis threaded into the outer end of the platform 59.

The operation of this form of our device is otherwise similar to theform shown in Figures 2 to 7, a bell crank being provided to actuate thepusher finger block 106 and the cap being formed upon the bottle by thethroat 68 in the manner which has already been described.

The form of our invention illustrates in Figure 11 shows a spacing ring127 on the upper surface of the platform about the lower end of thethroat carrier 51 and provided with downwardly projectingcircumferentially spaced pins 228 which extend into apertures 229provided in the upper wall of the platform. A spacing ring of 4 thistype is used when the capping head is to operate upon cap blanks whichare not entirely fiat but which have their outer circumference slightlydepressed with respect to the central portion of the cap, the depressedouter circumference and the central portion of the cap, however, beingparallel, as shown in Figure 11. The lower ends of the pins 228 restupon the presser foot supporting plate 67 and are held upwardly therebyas shown in Figure 11 by the action of the spring 70 when the throatcarrier 51 is in downward position. On the upward movement of the throatcarrier 51 with respect to the supporting cylinder 50 as described inconnection with the head illustrated in Figures 2 to 7 inclusive, theupper surface of the spacing ring 127 will come into contact with thelower end 126 of the supporting sleeve 50, forcing the pins 228 downinto the apertures 229 and against the presser foot plate 67. Thedownward movement of the presser foot plate 67 will carry the throat 68downwardly past the lower end of the presser foot 64 so that the lowerend 90 of the throat will bear upon the upper surface ofthe outercircumference of the cap blank 100', whereby the cap blank' will beproperly shaped about the mouth of the bottle. The operation of thisform of our invention is, in every other respect, similar to theoperation of the form illustrated in Figures 2 to 7 inclusive.

We claim:-

1. A capping machine comprising a support, a capping head movable withrespect to said support to apply caps to receptacles, a container forcaps movable with said capping head, means to feed caps from saidcontainer to said capping head, and a lever fulcrumed on said supportand operatively connected to said feeding means and said capping head tooperate the feeding means in accordance with movements of the cappinghead with respect to said support.

2. A capping machine comprising a support, a capping head movable withrespect to said support to apply caps to receptacles, a container forcaps movable with said capping head, means to feed caps from saidcontainer to said capping head, and means to operate said feeding meanscomprising a bell crank lever pivoted on said support and actuated bymovement of the cappin head.

3. A capping machine comprising a suport, a capping head movable withrespect to said support to apply caps to receptacles, a container forcaps movable with said capping head, means to feed caps from saidcontainer to said capping head, and a bell crank lever pivotally mountedon said support and operatively connected to said capping head andfeeding means to actuate the feeding means in accordance with movementof the capping head.

4. In a capping machine, a support, a capping head vertically movable insaid support, a container for caps movable with said capping head, meansto feed cap blanks from beneath said container to said capping head,means to support cap blanks within said container and to position thecap blanks in the path of said feeding means and means carried by saidsupport and operatively connecting said capping head, said capsupporting and positioning means and said feeding means to operate saidtwo last named means in accordance with vertical movements of saidcapping head.

5. In a capping machine, a support, a capping head vertically movable insaid support, a container for caps movable with said capping head, meansto feed cap blanks from beneath said container to said capping head,means to support cap blanks within said container and to position thecap blanks in the path of said feeding means, and a lever pivoted uponsaid support and operatively connecting said capping head, said cap,supporting and positioning means and said feed-` ing means to operatesaid two last named means in accordance with vertical movements of saidcapping head.

6. In a capping machine, a support, a capping head vertically movable insaid support, a container for caps movable with said capping head, meansto feed cap planks from beneath said container to said capping head,means to support cap blanks within said container and to position thecap blanks in the path of said feeding means, and a bell crank pivotedupon said support and operatively connecting said capping head, said capsupporting and positioning means and said feeding means to operate saidtwo last named means in accordance with vertical movements of saidcapping head.

'7. In a capping machine, a support, a capping head vertically movablein said support, a container for caps movable with said capping head,means to feed cap blanks from beneath said container to said cappinghead, means to support cap blanks within said container and to positionthe cap blanks in the path of said feeding means, a bell crank leverpivoted on'said support, one arm of said bell crank lever beingconnected to the capping head and the other arm of said lever beingconnected to said feeding means whereby vertical movement of the cappinghead will operate said feeding means, and an operative connectionbetween one arm of said bell crank and said cap supporting andpositioning means to operate the latter.

8. The combination of a vertically movable capping head includingcapping elements to apply a cap to a receptacle, a vertically disposedcontainer for holding cap blanks face to face in vertical stackedarrangement, means to feed cap blanks from beneath said container tosaid capping elements, vertically spaced fingers projecting into saidcontainer and alternately operable to support the stack of cappingblanks spaced above said feeding means and to posit-ion them in` thepath of said feeding means, and means actuated by the vertical movementof thecapping head to actuate said fingers and to actuate said feedingmeans.

9. The combination with a vertically movable capping head, of avertically arranged container to hold a stack of cap blanks, meansmovable beneath said container to feed cap blanks from the lower portionof said container to said capping head, a member of less area than a capblank carried by said feeding means and adapted to be projected upwardlytherefrom to support the stack of cap blanks above said feeding means,said feeding means including an element to move the lowermost cap blankof said container into said capping head, and means to actuate saidfeeding means in accordance with the vertical movements of said cappinghead.

10. Capping mechanism comprising a support, a capping head verticallymovable in said support, a vertically disposed container movable withsaid capping head to hold cap blanks in vertical stacked arrangement,means to feed the lowermost cap blank of the stack from said containerto said capping head, means to support the stack of cap blanks spacedabove said feeding means, a lever pivotally mounted on said support tooperatively connect said capping head and said feeding means whereby thelatter will be actuated in accordance with vertical movements of thecapping head and spring means to assist the feeding movement of saidfeeding means.

11. A capping machine comprising a base, means to support areceptacleupon said base, a member arranged for vertical movement withrespect to said base, a capping head support mounted on said member, acapping head including capping elements carried by said support, acontainer for blank caps xe'd to said capping head, operating means uponsaid base for vertically reciprocating said member and capping headsupport whereby the receptacle will be capped upon the downwardmovement, said capping head being mounted for vertical movement withrespect to its support, upward movement thereof with respect to saidsupport being effected upon contact of the capping head with thereceptacle, means to lock the capping head in such upward position withrespect to its support, means carried by said base to release saidlocking means upon the upward vertical movement of the support withrespect to the base, and means to feed cap blanks from the container tothe capping elements of said capping head actuated by the verticalmovement of the capping head with respect to its support. I

12. A capping machine comprising a capping head support, a capping headvertically movable in said support, said capping head being providedwith a downwardly opening capping chamber,v a presser tool carried insaid chamber and movable with respect thereto, a throat member withinsaid chamber surrounding said presser tool, said presser tool beingoperative adjacent but within the edge of a substantially fiat closuremember and said throat being engageable with the portion of said closurebetween the presser tool and the edge of the closure, and means carriedby said capping head and adapted to-en gage said support upon upwardmovement of said capping head with respect to said support to move saidthroat member downwardly with respect to said presser tool.

13. The combination of a vertically moving capping head includingcapping elements to apply a cap to a receptacle, a verticallydisposedpcontainer movable with the capping head and adapted to hold capblanks face to face in Vertical stacked arrangement, means to feed capblanks from beneath the lower end of said container to the cappingelements, pivoted members in said container to support the stack ofcapping blanks spaced above said feeding means, means actuated by thevertical movement of the capping head to actuate said feeding means, andmeans connecting said feed actuating means and said members to actuatesaid members to feed the lowermost cap in the stack downwardly to saidfeeding means.

14. The combination in a capping machine of a support, a capping headmovable in said support, a container for holding caps, means to feedcaps from said container to said capping head, a lever pivotally mountedon said support and operatively connected to said capping head andfeeding means to move said feeding means from beneath said containerupon upward movement of said capping head with respect to said support,means to hold said capping head in upward position with respect to saidsupport, and means to release said holding means whereby said feedingmeans will be moved to feed a cap from said container to said cappinghead.

15. The combination in a capping machine of a support, a capping headmovable in said support, a container for holding caps, means to feedcaps from said container to said capping head, means carried by saidsupport and operatively connected to said capping head and feeding meansto move said feeding means from beneath said container upon upwardmovement of said capping head with respect to the support, means to holdsaid capping head in upward position with respect to said support, andmeans to release said holding means whereby said feeding means will bemoved to feed a cap from said container to said capping head.

16. A capping machine comprising a capping head support, a capping headfor receptacles movable in said support, said capping head beingprovided with a capping chamber, a presser tool carried in said chamberand movable with respect thereto, a throat member within said chambersurrounding said presser tool, said presser tool being operativeadjacent but within the edge of a substantially at closure member andsaid throat being engageable with the portion of said closure betweenthe presser tool and the edge of the closure, and means operated uponmovement of said capping head into said support to move said throatmember past said presser tool and about the mouth of the receptacle.

17. A capping machine for applying substantially hat-shaped cap blanksto receptacles comprising a capping head support, a capping headvertically movable in said support, said capping head being providedwith a downwardly opening capping chamber, a presser tool carried insaid chamber and movable `with respect thereto, a throat member withinsaid chamber surrounding said presser tool, said presser tool beingoperative upon the crown portionvof a hat-shaped blank, and meanscarried by said capping nead and adapted to engage said support uponupward movement of said capping head with respect to said support tomove said throat member downwardly with respect to said presser tool toengage the brim portion of a hat-shaped blank.

18. In combination, a supporting member, a capping head for applyinghat-shaped cap blanks to receptacles, said capping head being movable insaid supporting member and including an outwardly opening cappingchamber, a throat member within said chamber, and means carried by saidcapping head and adapted to engage said supporting member upon inwardmovement of said capping head with respect to said member to move saidthroat member outwardly toward the brim portion of a hat-shaped blank.

19. In a capping machine, a support, a capping head vertically movablein said support, a container movable with said capping head, means tofeed cap blanks from beneath said container to said capping head, meansto support cap blanks within said container and to position the capblanks in the path of said feeding means, and a lever pivoted upon saidsupport and operatively connecting said capping head and said capsupporting and positioning means to operate said last named means inaccordance with vertical movements of said capping head.

GEORGE J. HUNTLEY. HARRY A. RAU.

